


All it took was a kiss

by Kamm



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M, slightly jealous!Arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 12:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10412472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamm/pseuds/Kamm
Summary: In which Arthur for once isn't clueless and knows Merlin and Gwaine are dating even before them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language ~

'You sure spend a lot of time at the tavern these days, Merlin'

Merlin sighed, since Gaius had tried to cover his sneaking around with that excuse Arthur had started bringing it up at least once every week. For the most part it was just snarky remarks, like asking him if he was sure not to be too hungover to do whatever task he had assigned him. But other times he went on long rants about how it wasn't proper for the king's servant to act that way, which made Merlin wish he was actually getting as drunk as Arthur thought, and other weird ramblings that he generally tuned out after a few seconds.

Unfortunately for him that day Arthur seemed in the mood for the latter so he braced himself for yet another one of his speeches, but what he said next caught him off guard and made him raise his eyes from the pair of boots he was polishing.

'Is it because of Gwaine?'

Arthur was staring at him intently from behind the table on his room, he had a small frown on his face and didn't looked too happy to be having that conversation. Why would he even bring it up then, was a question Merlin wasn't sure he wanted to pose, or know the answer to.

Sure, he guessed that if any of the nights he had supposedly spent getting drunk at the tavern had happened, he might have ended up spending them with Gwaine, but that would have been because, well, Gwaine really liked drinking and was often there. And, alright, if that had been the case it might have happened also because they liked each other company. But what had that anything to do with Arthur's usual complains? Was he gonna try to imply it was Gwaine who was at fault for his new (and not real) bad habit? That sounded too harsh even for him, and he wouldn't blame someone else for something he thought was Merlin's fault, especially when like in that case he could constantly nag him about it. Because Merlin knew that despite his looking annoyed every time he brought it up he enjoyed scolding him.

'Uh, no? What are you talking about?'

Arthur's frown deepened and he crossed his arms, looking even more displeased than before.

Merlin liked to think to have learned to understand him well enough to know what was going through his mind, thanks to all the years they had spent together. But in that moment he was at a loss about why Arthur would act that way, and that couldn't be a good sign.

'I'm not stupid, you know?'

Merlin raised an eyebrow at that, and even though he didn't say anything, from the expression on his face it must have been clear enough what he was thinking because Arthur tsked in response.

'I have eyes, I can see what is going on'

Merlin really doubted that, especially because _nothing_ was going on. He wasn't even going to the tavern in the first place.

'And what exactly it is that you see, sire?'

He didn't even try to hide the amusement in his voice, but Arthur ignored it. He seemed confident in whatever he was trying to say, Merlin would have found it almost worrisome if it had been about anything remotely important or about something that had, you know, actually happened.

'How you look at each other'

Well, that conversation had taken a weird and unexpected turn, Merlin mumbled a 'what' smiling incredulous but Arthur didn't gave him the time to protest and just kept going.

'Yeah you're not that subtle, you shouldn't try to hide things from me Merlin, it never works'

That was one of the most absurd conversations Merlin ever had to be part of, it was just typical of Arthur to be so wrong about something.

There was nothing between him and Gwaine, they were friends, he might have spent a little more time with him than with anyone else, other than Arthur and Gaius, but that didn't mean they were dating. He just liked him, he made him laugh and he could complain about Arthur all he wanted without having to worry he would refer it to him or take his side, Gwaine liked Arthur more than most nobles but he would always pick Merlin over him, which Merlin greatly appreciated.

Thanks to his easygoing nature it was simple opening up to him, they had hit off the moment they had met and he had found a real friend in him.

He wondered if the reason Arthur thought there was more to it was because he found it bizarre someone could want to hang out with him and didn't thought he was annoying, he wouldn't put it past him, but he seemed too serious for that to be what had set him off. If it had been that he would have probably joked about it, not questioned him about their relationship.

'Arthur, I don't know what you're imagining but we're not... together. And if we were I fail to see how it would be any of your business'

In retrospect saying that last part out loud was a mistake, he should have expected Arthur would have taken it as an admission, but he didn't owed him an explanation for everything he did, or didn't, do in his personal life.

'It is my business when one of my knights decides to fraternize with my servant'

Arthur said putting emphasis in the last two 'my', making Merlin sigh in exasperation.

'But that's not the point, I just wish you had told me the truth, you didn't had to hide it from me'

Arthur's expression softened and he looked away, as weird as that whole discussion was the idea that Arthur might be thinking he hadn't told him because he didn't trust him enough made Merlin feel bad. Especially considering how many times Arthur had talked to him about Gwen. But it wasn't his fault, he hadn't done anything at all, it was all a misunderstanding. It's not like he had decided to keep that information from him, he simply didn't had anything to tell him because nothing had happened.

Merlin shook his head trying to get rid of the ridiculous sense of guilt he felt.

'I would have talked to you about it if there had been anything to tell'

He said trying once again to explain to him that no, they _really_ weren't dating, but Arthur just made some vague gesture with his hand in the air to dismiss the argument and Merlin decided to let it drop, for his sanity.

 

That afternoon, while Merlin was observing Arthur training with Percival, he felt the weight of an arm around his shoulders and when he looked up he found Gwaine smiling down at him.

Gwaine's smile was quickly replaced by a worried expression when he noticed the look on Merlin's face, there was something that was clearly bothering him.

Gwaine's first instinct was to check if Arthur was fine, most of Merlin's moods could be attributed in some ways to Arthur.

But the king didn't seem to be acting different than usual, or hurt, so for once he hoped nothing grave had happened or was about to happen.

He looked at the younger guy in confusion and before he could ask what was wrong Merlin cleared his doubts.

'Arthur thinks we're dating' he blurted out, cheeks reddening at that confession.

Gwaine's mouth fell open in surprise but after the initial shock wore off he laughed, hard and loud, squeezing Merlin closer to him.

Merlin relaxed a bit, he should have known Gwaine would find it funny, but he still had been nervous to tell him, worried it might have made things uncomfortable between them.

He waited for Gwaine's laughing fit to stop avoiding accurately to look in Arthur's direction, because he just _knew_ he was glaring at them in that moment.

Gwaine's lack of boundaries and constant habit of touching him most likely only reinforced his conviction, Merlin had thought about how him and Gwaine acted around each other

after that discussion with Arthur and after pondering about what he had said he guessed he could see why someone could have misunderstood their relationship, but of all the people he never thought it would have been Arthur the one to.

'Doesn't he have more important matters at hand than us?'

Gwaine asked once he had caught his breath, he had stopped laughing but he still had a grin on his lips.

'Do you think he's jealous?' he added raising an eyebrow, only half joking. Not that he thought Arthur was in love with Merlin, but their relationship raised some doubts in his mind, to put it mildly.

Merlin shrugged smiling, the king was weirdly possessive of him after all, he was sure he wasn't jealous in the romantic sense but he might have been annoyed by Merlin not costantly paying attention to him. It was hard to say.

'I don't think so?'

Gwaine made a soft 'mmh' and looked at the king pensitive, he seemed to be planning something and Merlin knew that that couldn't mean anything good, most of his ideas were recipes for disaster, even if he usually got away with them, but that was only because he was lucky and a fast runner.

'Do you want to give him a good reason to speculate about us?'

Merlin looked at him intrigued and slightly worried, it seemed that that day all the people around him had decided to surprise him. Gwaine's ideas were usually as bad as they were funny, but after trying to explain to Arthur that they weren't hiding a secret relationship from him he didn't think it would be the best plan to turn around and confirm his suspicions, even if it was to make fun of him.

Gwaine seemed to read his hesitation right on his face because he smiled and tapped lightly his fingers on his shoulder.

'C'mon, it will be fun.'

Merlin bit his lip, torn. Seeing it was harder to convince him than usual Gwaine rolled his eyes, faking annoyance, even if he was clearly still very amused.

'Fine, I will talk to him later and tell him we were only mocking him and that we aren't together, if that's what worries you' he conceded.

Merlin doubted it would have made any real difference to Arthur, when he put something in his mind he was irremovible and if he was so convinced they were dating not even Gwaine could have made him come to his senses, but it was enough to make him give in and nod, accepting to be part of Gwaine's most-ikely-to-lead-them-into-trouble idea.

Truth to be told, he didn't really cared about getting into trouble, fooling around every once in a while helped him feel like a normal guy of his age, and when you're under the costant stress of having to hide your true nature while also trying to save your best friend/king's life almost every day it is always a pleasant distraction.

Gwaine smirked and moved his arm away from his shoulder only to put his hand on the back of Merlin's head, he glanced quickly at Arthur, to check he would see them, and then brushed their lips together.

It started as an innocent touch, Gwaine pressed a chaste kiss on his lips, making Merlin draw a sharp breath, surprised. His lips were soft and hot against his, he hadn't really thought about what the man had in mind to do but that wasn't what he had expected, it wasn't unpleasant though.

It felt good, _very_ good, and once the initial surprise wore off he nibbled gently at Gwaine's bottom lip, making him moan.

It had been long since he had last been kissed, so he fully intented to enjoy it. While there might not have been anything between them Merlin wasn't blind, Gwaine was gorgeous. Everyone could see that. He had learned to push certain feelings aside over the years, because it was just easier that way, but he had been attracted to Gwaine since the first time they had meet.

He could feel Gwaine's hair tickling his face and he gripped his chain mail when the man licked his lips, asking a silent permission to deepen the kiss. But before Merlin could guarantee him that a loud yelp coming from the court made them separate.

They looked at each other with goofy and embarassed smiles, both flustered, before turning to check what had happened.

Apparently their plan had worked, because the noise had came from Arthur, who distracted by their kissing seemed to have just taken a blown right on his head and was now looking at them like if he wanted nothing more than to smack them.

Before Merlin had been worried of what Arthur could think, not wanting to make his conviction firmer, but now he couldn't bring himself to care about what might be going on in his head, that kiss had made him realize that maybe after all he didn't wanted to convince him they weren't dating anymore.

Gwaine seemed to be having his same thoughts, because before running off to join the other knights to train, he had already wasted enough time and he didn't wanted to piss Arthur off so much to make him come get him, he winked at Merlin.

'So do you still want me to tell Arthur it was all just a joke?'

Merlin shook his head blushing and Gwaine laughed.

'Then perhaps we could continue this later'

He said walking away with a giddy expression on his face that matched the one on Merlin's.

 

 


End file.
